


On My Own

by DestinysRequiem



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Amulet of Daylight, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Interpretation, Jim faces himself, One Shot, Post S2 Ep12, Pre S2 Ep13, Self-Doubt, Self-empowerment, Short & Sweet, The Deep, eclipse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 05:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17238533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinysRequiem/pseuds/DestinysRequiem
Summary: When Jim was exiled to the Deep for letting Gunmar escape, he never expected that he'd have to face himself. Least of all a Troll Version.AKA, my interpretation of what that creature in The Deep  was.





	On My Own

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first insert to the Trollhunters fandom. I'm in love with this show and everything it stands for. I thought I'd kick off my inspiration with one of the things I found most frustrating about the Show; The creature of The Deep as well as it's significance. I hope you enjoy!  
> The Title is based off the Song by Ashes Remain. Go check it out if you don't know it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG--g1gMrGo

Jim felt his fear course through him.

The snarling face chuckling down at him was his own. Trollish teeth and slit eyes glared at him, illuminated in the red light of what he suddenly realized must have been the Eclipse blade.

Out of desperation, Jim summoned a glaive into his hand and slashed at his look alike. The Troll leapt back and scurried away into the darkness, leaving the Human to scramble to his feet. Jim frantically yanked Daylight out of the rock it had been lodged in. His Glaive and Shield dissipated while he stumbled back, an ethereal blue glow exuding off his armor and his sword poised for another attack.

Jim’s heart thundered in his chest. He searched for the red glow of his enemy in a frenzy, but the darkness was so thick and the only light to break it was him. He couldn’t see a thing otherwise.

“What… are you?” Jim asked for the second time, feeling more shaken than he had only minutes ago. The darkness seemed to cackle at him, a raspy laugh that bounced off the surrounding rock, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

“ _I am everything you are._ ” It responded.

Jim heard the attack coming only an instant before it hit him, slamming into his back and knocking him into the ground. He rolled to his feet in time to block an attack from above. The light from Daylight once again ignited the face of the trollish version of himself. A fanged mouth grinned down at him, grey skin and black armor adorned. Everything about this creature was so familiar yet so strange.

“What are you talking about? How can you be me?!” He demanded, his arms quaking from the strain it took to hold off this things attack. There was a hiss, and the strange thing was gone again, lost to the darkness of the caverns.

“ _I am more than you could ever be, James Lake Junior._ ” Came the raspy voice once more, only now he could detect the undertone of another voice, seeming to circle him like a cloud of smoke.

“How do you know my name?” Jim demanded, keeping his sword held in front, gripping it tightly in his shaking fists. There was more laughter and a voice just over his shoulder.

“ _I know many things about you Jim._ ”

Jim turned sharply, swinging his sword blindly, but whatever was there had already fled.

“ _I know why you strive to take such good care of our mother._ ”

Jim turned once more, but once again found nothing awaiting him but an endless abyss.

“ _I know why you so desperately cling to our friends._ ”

Jim stepped back, watching the suffocating black with increasing trepidation.

“ _I know the seething hatred you feel for our father._ ”

Metal made contact with metal as Jim’s back hit what he assumed to be the chest of the other him. He instantly whipped around and swung with all his might. There was a flash of red and a sharp clang as their two swords came into contact again. Jim struggled to maintain the parry, yet his doppelgänger managed to fend off the Human with ease.

“ _We were abandoned, left on our own at only five years old. Oh, our mother was such a mess._ ” It spoke softly, but Jim could hear the smile in it’s tone. He felt his blood boil beneath his skin.

“Shut up.” Jim growled.

The Troll only leaned forward, the combined light of both Daylight and Eclipse lighting his expression clearly.

“ _Remember how she couldn’t even get out of bed? So weak and frail. Broken. She only remembered to eat because we would drag her downstairs and cook for her._ ”

Jim let out a grunt as he felt his feet scrape against the ground, sliding backwards.

“ _It took her so long to get back to being herself after James Lake Senior left. He didn’t care, not in the least. Just a deadbeat dad who only left us a name, a broken woman, and a stupid bike._ ”

“Be quiet!” Jim barked. The Troll only laughed.

“ _It’s a Miracle that mom survived after Strickler ‘disappeared’! And here you are gearing up to follow in their footsteps!_ ”

“You're wrong! I’m not-”

“ _Look at yourself! Trollhunter! Every day, you go out there into a world full of Trolls, Goblins, Gnomes, and who knows what else. We both know that there will come a day when you won’t be able to come home. And poor mother will be left all alone again._ ”

“No! I won’t let that happen!” And Jim forcefully shoved the look-alike back where he disappeared into the shadows.

“ _You don’t have a choice! The future is already set! Gunmar is free and sooner or later, you will have to make a choice!_ ”

Jim shook his head determinedly.

“That isn’t my future! I won’t accept that!”

The creature laughed from the shadows.

“ _It has nothing to do with your acceptance! It will happen._ ”

“You can’t know that!”

“ _But I do._ ”

The Eclipse sword ignited in red fury. The Troll lunged and Jim deflected the sword, pushing it to the side. The Troll got very close to Jim’s face, nose to nose with his counterpart, and grinned.

“ _Take a good look, Young Atlas. This is what you will become._ ”

Jim’s eyes widened substantially as he stared at the face once more. He watched in horror as horns suddenly sprouted from the top of the others head, widening and curving backwards. The ears elongated and narrowed into points. Raven hair lengthened past his shoulders and curled outwards at the bottom. His nose curved and the tip bent towards his face while the canines that protruded from his mouth somehow enlarged. Finally, the creatures entire stature seemed to distend, doubling in size and easily towering over the comparatively small human.

Jim’s jaw went slack as this thing once again grinned it’s abhorred teeth at him.

In one swift movement and with far more strength than he had previously, the doppelgänger swung his blade, hitting Jim like a baseball and knocking him into a far wall. He dropped his sword and it landed with a sharp clatter, the Trollhunter following only a moment after. Pain had exploded across his body, and he spluttered and groaned as he tried to get up. A heavy armored boot come down and crushed his spine underneath it, pinning his body to the ground.

“ _You think our friends can save you from me? You ruined them when you dragged them into your fight. They’ll never be able to live normal lives now. Aaarrrgghh has already died once. Next time, there will be no coming back. Blinky will lose his home because of your selfish actions. Toby will be left behind, the last one to defend what little is left. And Claire?_ ” Troll-Jim ground his foot harshly into Jim's back, making the boy cry out. “ _How do you think her parents will feel when their precious, darling daughter leaves home for the last time? All because you were afraid of being alone. Of being abandoned again._ ”

“No… No, you’re wrong. They’re strong, stronger than me! They’ll get through this! They have to…” It was hard to talk with his face pressed into hard stone, but the Trollhunter managed to accomplish that.

Troll-Jim merely laughed at him.

“ _Even if they do, there’s no going back! In the battle’s to come, everyone will lose something. A friend. A loved one. Even themselves._ ” With a firm kick, Troll-Jim removed his foot from the Human. “ _I am the path you have chosen. You cannot escape me. I am your shadow. I am the future that awaits you if you leave this place._ ”

Jim groaned in discomfort as he shifted onto his forearms. His heart sagged in his chest, heavy as the cruel words of his shadow rung true in his ears.

He was to blame. If only he had fought harder, not gone into the Darklands alone as he did. If he had made better, smarter choices, things would not be as bad as they are. His friends could still have their lives. They wouldn’t be thrown into danger day after day.

Even so…

Jim braced himself as he felt the cold metal of the Eclipse blade against the back of his neck. The world seemed to silence around him, as if the caverns themselves held their breath.

Troll-Jim raised his sword in the air.

That’s when he heard it.

“... aster... im…”

“... no… Jim!”

“Jim!”

Electric blue irises snapped open, and in a flash of blinding light, Daylight and Eclipse clashed once again, only this time Jim didn’t feel so weak. He matched the strength of the creature before him, and pushed back. He stood to his own feet and swept the doppelgängers sword to the side before swinging down.

The other him seemed surprised at first, but blocked Jim’s attack, a deep snarl wrinkling his nose and a growl rumbling from his chest.

“ _Why do you still fight? Just give in! There’s nothing left for you up there. Just ruined lives and empty promises._ ”

Jim huffed and gave a cry, sidestepping his counterparts sword and shoving his shoulder into his body. Miraculously, the Trollish creature stumbled back, toppling over and tangling his limbs in a set of stalagmites jutting out of the floor. Jim acted quickly, holding the end of his sword directly in his opponents face before breathing deeply.

“Because, no matter what I’ve done or where it’s led me, those are the choices that I made. I can’t change them or take them back. I need to live with the consequences. And my friends up there need my help. I won’t abandon them.”

“ _Nothing you do will change anything. It’s hopeless, Trollhunter!_ ”

“A good friend once told me that even the word ‘Hopeless’ isn’t void of Hope.”

And Jim the Trollhunter lunged forward, thrusting his sword into the chest of his shadow. A monstrous scream ripped through The Deep and with a bright light the creature finally exploded into ash.

Jim stood in the dust for a moment, breathing heavily and feeling his heart calm in his chest once more. Then he looked up the cliff at his next obstacle; the sheer rockside that he had to climb his way out of.

“... I don’t care what happens to me. As long as the people I love are safe. That’s all that matters.”

And with great care, the Trollhunter began his long climb.


End file.
